A Young Sailor Inspires Change

The year was 1996, and I was relatively new to the submarine way of life. Still in Sonar School, and not yet assigned to a boat, a discussion among the different classes arose concerning possible changes to the submarine working uniforms. Like the Navy SEALs, the submarine fleet is an elite group. It comprises the top 1% of the top 10% of the navy. Submariners have silently done their jobs for years and the discussion at the time was based around distinguishing submariners, like other elitist groups, with different uniforms; specifically, blue camouflage BDUs.

It didn’t take much convincing for me. No one thinks the navy bell bottom pants, the light blue button up shirts (made from the same material as prison issued uniforms), and the goofy white sailor hat was more outdated and demoralizing then I did. They've been around and unchanged since the 1940's. I quickly became an advocate for change, specifically for the BDUs and for a beret type hat.

In my haste and outspokenness, I decided to pen a letter addressed to the Chief of Naval Operations. I would write it and mail it directly to him lobbying for such a uniform change. In the military there is a chain of command, however, if you direct something above your superior’s head, by regulation, it must reach its intended destination. The CNO is the highest-ranking officer of the Navy and so it stood to reason that I would address my letter to him.

Admittedly, I never presumed that it would ever be read by the CNO. After all, who was I? I was just a Seaman Recruit; a lowly E-1. Several weeks later, I received two replies. The first, a very pleasant response from the CNO stating how much he enjoyed receiving my letter and understood my position. The second, a very matter of fact letter from the Chief Petty Officer of the Navy educating me on the proper use of the chain of command.

Not to my surprise, nothing ever became of my petition; that is, until now. Given the vast amount of influence I convey, the Navy initiated a Navy wide survey concerning the contentment of present uniforms and the types of uniforms they would like to have. The survey results, also not to my surprise, communicated what I had so articulately expressed to the CNO years earlier.

The Navy Times announced December 14, 2006 that Navy officials have announced the Navy’s new working and service uniforms will start to be available in some Navy exchanges by June 2008 at the earliest.

Though this change does not accomplish the mission of distinguishing the submariner as an elitist division, it will prove to be a great boost to Navy morale. It’s a change that is long overdue.